


That's Why Friends Should Sleep in Another Bed

by zeitgeist77



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Angst, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentions of Sex, guys being bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-27
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-10-29 02:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20789327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeitgeist77/pseuds/zeitgeist77
Summary: Sup I woke up from a fever dream and wrote the first part then wrote the second part after a good nap. Y'all enjoyRichie and Eddie are two guys bein' bros. Kiss ya homies goodnight





	That's Why Friends Should Sleep in Another Bed

Eddie knew it should be weird. He'd heard about other guys' sleepovers and how they rolled out an air mattress or they showed their friend the couch or laid down a blanket or two on the floor. Boys don't share a bed when they stay at each other's houses. But, if that were the case and that were the rule that every boy just followed, why did he let Richie sleep in his bed? When it was just him and Richie, they would sleep in a pile of limbs and fuzzy bedhead. When they had group sleepovers sometimes Bev and Richie slept together on the couch so they could go out and smoke without disturbing anyone, but Eddie really wished that he was the one sleeping so close to Richie. He hated looking over and seeing that they were a room apart from one another. There were many reasons for this, logical reasons, he decided:

1\. Richie is a heatbox and Derry is a cold place. 

2\. He was used to the octopus limbs that curled around him, which was not his fault. Richie was cuddly, he just existed that way. But they had always shared a bed which was Eddie's biggest excuse. 

When they started sleeping at each other's houses in 8th grade (after Eddie's mother forced Richie's to keep an extra inhaler and made her promise to check on the boys regularly) they just shared a bed. They shared a space. If they ended up laying on the floor playing video games, they slept on the pallet together. If they fell asleep on the couch, they shared generously. Hammock? Bet your ass neither one was moving from his space. Junior year was a shift, though. Eddie tried to put some space between them because he noticed that they were always just a little too close. But, when he tried to push, Richie pulled. If he sat away from Richie, Richie would just follow him. "Eddie baby, why do you look like you hate me?" Richie would say in his 40's male voice like they were in I Love Lucy (which Richie occasionally watched on Sunday mornings). The way he announced it made Eddie both turn to mush and burn red with embarrassment. So, Eddie gave up. Granted, he barely tried in the first place. 

But, some nights, things went too far. Eddie thought so anyways, Richie didn't say anything about it. One night, they had stumbled through Eddie's window, stoned out of their minds and laughing at the way the cat outside had meowed at them. Richie caught Eddie when he stumbled a little too hard and when he did, he caught the gentle glisten in Eddie's deep brown eyes in the rays of a street light. He was overwhelmed and so fucking gone that he kissed Eddie right then. Eddie, though part of him screamed to stop before it went too far, wanted it to happen so damn bad that he deepened their kiss and pulled Richie with him towards the bed. They were laying down and slowly fading in and out of consciousness. Their lazy make out turned into deep nuzzles and quiet groans. Eddie felt better then than he had his whole life. Richie had wrapped his arms around Eddie who was laying on his chest with his nose in the crook of his neck. "Hmmph Spaghet." he laughed to himself and they both lost it. 

After that, they fell into a routine of outwardly acting like a couple. If they felt like making out they did, if they wanted to cuddle they did, and maybe things were taken too far when Richie blew Eddie, but dammit they were just having fun. Guys being bros. Eddie was divided between stopping it and letting it happen as it was or asking to date. But, however it went, he was feeling happy. Life was as it should be: Eds and Richie against the world. Eddie wore Richie's clothes all the time. At one point, Richie's green and pink wind breaker was never going back in his own closet. And just as Eddie was happy, Richie was too. He liked whatever it was they were doing. 

Unfortunately, all good things end. Lida Manuel was this new girl, curvy and sweet, she also caught onto Richie's jokes so easily. At first they just hung out and smoked behind the bleachers (Bev was trying to cut back so they were alone). Then, she invited him to a party and of course he went. The next day the whole school was buzzing about the two of them playing seven minutes in heaven. Richie said it didn't mean anything, but Eddie felt the betrayal anyways. He didn't ask Richie to come over for a few nights and he wasn't going to knock on his window. Richie noticed that he wasn't getting his usual attention from the boy, so he climbed up Eddie's side of the house and knocked on his door at about one in the morning. Eddie looked at the window, startled but he hadn't been asleep yet so it wasn't a terrible inconvenience. When he saw Richie's face, his brows scrunched up and his mouth curved ever so slightly. Richie recognized the expression. As soon as he opened the window, Richie was crawling inside. "Eddie baby, why do you look like you hate me?" he said in that voice. Eddie groaned and walked back to his bed, laying down. "Eds. Either I'm going deaf or you're really not talking to me." he said. 

"Rich, I'm not feeling it tonight. Go home." Eddie said and rolled over in his comforter. He waited to hear the window shut, but then Richie flopped down on top of him. Eddie bolted off the bed and stood away from Richie who looked alarmed. 

"What the hell?" Richie said. 

"I'm asking you to leave. Please." He said bluntly. Richie eyed him. "What happened?" Richie asked. "Is it that I've been hanging out with Lida? We can do something tomorrow night." Richie tried. 

"No! Go fucking be with her Rich!" Eddie yelled and pushed Richie off the bed. "Just get out." Eddie said and crossed his arms. 

"Eds what the hell man? You don't talk to me for a week now I can't stay the night?" 

"You don't get both. Me or her not both." Eddie erupted. Richie, from where he was laying on the floor, caught on after that. 

"Eds it's not like that." 

"I don't care how it is. I can't keep doing this shit. I don't understand what WE'RE doing and I really don't care anymore. You might think it's just us and it might be. And maybe it's nothing to you, which is fine. But I'm not like that. I love you Rich, more than anything. But, please, leave me alone." Eddie pleaded. Richie stayed where he was, stuck to the floor with his mouth open like he was about to form words. "If things were gonna be like this we shouldn't have shared a bed... ever." a tear slipped away from him. 

Richie stayed on the floor baffled. "Eds...I-" Richie tried. 

"Please just get the fuck out." Eddie said quietly, trying to avoid the break in his voice. He closed his eyes and waited to hear Richie's footsteps on the ground and the window shut. 

What he didn't expect was Richie to walk over and kiss his cheek. Eddie kept his eyes closed, but he felt more tears coming on. "If it's worth anything, I'm sorry." Richie said then left. As soon as he felt like he could, Eddie opened his eyes to an empty room and open window. At that he laid on his bed and wished that the past week hadn't happened. He wanted to be in that ignorant space and time where Lida didn't exist and he still had a too-intimate relationship with his best friend. 

(Here's a fix it cause I don't like angst)

Eddie's mom dropped him off at school, taking his temperature every few minutes since he seemed to be acting weird. He was resting his head against the window with his eyes closed. "Eddie Bear, if you need to, got to the nurse's office. I'm going to see if I can get you a doctor's appointment." She talked on and on, but he only heard white noise. He'd stayed up all night trying to make himself sleep, but it wouldn't come. Fuck Richie and fuck the fact that Eddie always slept better when he was there. 

He walked into the school and looked straight ahead, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. When he got to his locker, he shoved his whole backpack in and shut it, walking to the bathroom to go be alone. When he got to the one he knew would be empty, he locked the door and closed his eyes for just a moment of quiet. He had held off crying all night, but now that he was in public, he felt unbearably sick and wanted to curl up into himself. He heard a knock on the door and looked at his watch. Class was two minutes out, so he straightened himself up and opened the door. Mike stood outside the door and as soon as he saw Eddie, he hugged him. 

"I don't need to know but I'm here for you." is all he said. Eddie hugged him back. After that, the day got a little easier. Mike sat with Eddie away from their usual table at lunch and didn't push him for answers. He could assume, and he did, but he didn't say anything. The classes Eddie did have with Richie, he made sure not to look at him or give him a chance to talk. As soon as the class was over, he bolted. At the end of the day, Eddie grabbed his stuff from his locker and saw that there was a note. Richie had drawn a bowl of spaghetti and written 'Please let me explain' next to it. 

As much as he wanted to go home, he knew his mother was waiting for him to get back so she could drive him to the hospital. And, if Eddie was being honest, he didn't want to ignore Richie for the rest of high school. So, he went to Richie's smoking spot behind the bleachers. He'd avoided looking in Richie's direction all day, and now he wished he didn't because Richie looked just as bad as he did. He had blue circles under his eyes and his hair was a higher degree of chaos than it usually was. "Eddie." he said, almost sounding desperate. Instead of responding, he just waited for Richie to speak. "I know what I did was fucked up, but please hear me out" he said. Eddie nodded. "I don't know why I made out with Lida. I mean I was drunk and it was a dare so I know why I did it, but I don't know why I thought it wouldn't affect you. Eds, I love you and you're mine. And I think you love me too. God, I hope you do. It took a week of you ignoring me to realize that. I'm so sorry and I don't expect you to forgive me so easily, but please let me try." Richie begged, like started crying and clenching up his fists type of begging. Eddie knew that Richie would be holding his hand and trying to touch him, but Richie also knew Eddie didn't want that right now. But, watching him fidget and suffer wasn't settling in Eddie's stomach, so he reached out and grabbed Richie's hand. Richie looked so relieved and he stilled. 

"We aren't friends." Eddie said which made Richie's face drop. "We're more than that, we've always known. I just need us to figure out what we are. Please." Eddie said. 

"Well, Eds, would you like to go on a date then?" Richie asked. Eddie smiled for the first time in a few days and nodded. "I'm feeling spaghetti." Richie said and Eddie groaned. 

"Beep Beep." Eddie said, but pulled Richie down to kiss him. It was so gentle and Eddie felt better immediately.


End file.
